How do I make this town feel more apocalyptic?

Here are some of the images of the town:

For context, the place is called Bogtown, it’s supposed to somewhat look like a swamp village (it’ll look more like that when I add terrain, but that’s for later.)

I like having heavy fog and I think it’ll add to the atmosphere of the game, so odds are I won’t be changing that, the characters also have flashlights so no need to make it any brighter.

The game is a survivor versus zombies game. Any feedback on what I can do helps!

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Hi! The filters look really nice. So does the building style! If you want it more barren, like it hasn’t been kept clean in years/centuries. I’d make several changes, such as: Making the diners words more bent/missing letters, if the town is a swamp town add more rust. I’d make the wood old, and use textures of cracks in the wood to make it worn out. I’d add trash, and old items with dust collecting. If you want to see abandoned places I’d check out this youtuber called “ExploringwithJosh” he also has a instagram too, and it has really wonderful references on there. :smiley:

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Make the Windows look broken and possibly Board up the Windows. Hope this helps. Looks great either way.

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Okay so I like the map but it doesn’t seem to look like it has been even remotely abandoned for 3 months. so what you could do is flip a couple barrels, or add trash, make fire around the tree’s . that’s all I can think of.

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Add some dynamic elements to it. A place with absolutely no movement/sound is most likely going to come off as calm. Fires, smoke signals, barren winds carrying around trash, and flickering lights could be some nice additions for dynamic elements in an apocalyptic town. You can also add some ambient noises here and there to further improve how it feels in game.

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  1. Missing & Bent letters
  2. Missing stairs and some homes are sinking in the soil at angles
  3. Different coloured shades of planks to make the wood or whatever look rotting
  4. Lots and lots of trash whether its a decal or some models like cans
  5. Walls are too perfect, sink some parts lower. Make everything less symmetrical
  6. Dirt decals on windows (some broken)
  7. Lots and lots of moss and vines

Hope this helped, some of these points condense what others have already said.

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I like the way you think!

I just adding the flickering lights to the lamps and then isnide the diner I have a flickering light in the bathroom.

Do you know what elements I could use to create this type of effect?

I don’t want to make a megareply with 10+ quotes, but I’ve taken it all into consideration and I’ll be modifying a lot of stuff, thank you so much!

Guess it really depends at what “stage” of an apocalypse it would be at, is it a fresh apocalypse thats only a month or two in or has it been years and years since the start of the infection? if the ladder then adding random growth around and crumbled buildings along with makeshift structures from survivors, if its early into the infection then turned over vehicles, military/police baricades set up, some bodies, along with smoke, even small forest fires can alter a large area and assuming nobodies bothering to deal with them or entire cities are burning then it would be evident

I guess the most simply way to accomplish this is to make a particle effect with a paper shaped particle. Give the particles acceleration and rotation and they’ll look like they’re being moved by winds. You can also use scripts to change the rate (or other properties) of the particle effect from time to time. To make the effect more convincing you can add different types of trash or paper particles in the same location.

Reference images would come in handy for getting small ideas on what makes a apocalyptic feel more interesting you could add elevation depending on how long it’s been there. It could
also define on how many years, days it’s been left there without no human activity keeping it from getting ruined.

Ideas would be placing down small parts fallen of certain buildings it would make the place feel more interesting and incorporate those proper details. Throw parts on the surface area you could add cars vines attached to the building wall - porch items with it so it could stand out more. Cracks within the wall - shattered windows.

Consider adding dried up trees placed throughout the area to remove some of the repetitive feel. Maybe add parts here and there, just to make it look more realistic it really comes down to experiment; you may have errors but you will find something eventually. Always play around with different selections to capture whatever approach your going for!

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Currently doing this, thank you a lot!!

Broken windows, moss/vines, scattered bricks & wood, dirt piles or holes, hole in the walls in buildings, broken stairs, fallen trees ect

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First off great job I would cut out some holes in the roofs and wall to make it look more like ruins

Hey! I really like the ambient of the game and the style of the build.

To make it more apocalyptic, you could add like broken roads / windows / roofs or just trees down on the road.

You can also make the sunlight spread a bit less bright and make the ambient a bit more darker. You can also add the tool “Atmosphere” for the lighting and make it in a dark ambient. The fog of the map will be increased and makes it look more apocalyptic.

Turning down saturation with ColorCorrectionEffect can give off an apocalyptic feel. Try using more neutral colours as well.

Insert the following ino lighting:
Atmosphere
Sky
You need both for this to work and just set the haze up in atmosphere.
Should look like this:

No haze:

Haze to 2.3:

Play around with them:

Hello, VampiricCode! :wave:

Firstly, these builds you have here are fantastic for the style you are going for. However, you need to work on the general environmental detail.

A few things I would suggest to make it look “apocalyptic” and “abandoned” would be:

  • Add Boarded Windows / Door Frames

  • Add floor cracks [NEGATE TOOL]

  • Work and Test around with the lighting to give the “apocalyptic” feel

  • Tilt some objects to appear as old/broken to give off the “abandoned” feel.

Overall, this is a fantastic idea you have and I wish you the best of luck in your future of this project!

Happy Building!
stickza

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Add maybe fog, rain, different skybox, cloudy, ambience, lighting, fog & more fog.

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It looks too clean. Add some rocks, rusted abandoned cars, some sticks and bushes, make the buildings overgrown, add some wear and tear in the buildings like a chunck broke off a building and fell and is overgrown, add some cracks in the buildings, also maybe don’t use fog but use atmosphere instead, I’ll look far more better.

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